Richard Wordingham wrote:
>
> And _dragotsennyj_ 'precious, invaluable' makes it into my pocket
> Russian dictionary. I'm not sure what the remark 'tserk. dragiy' in
> the entry for _dragoj_ means. Does it simply mean '_dragij_ under
> Church Slavonic influence'? Why does Alex want to know if a South
> Slavic form spread beyond South Slavic?
>
> Richard.
OK, after so much help it ought I give the explanation I have.
The root "drag-" exist in Rom. too and it is usually seen as being a
loan from Slavic.
This word has some derivates and I will give them all here. I wanted to
search about this meaning since the mneaning in Rom. is one of "dear"
and it is used just for showing the sentiments and not in the sens of
"value".
I agree that "expensive" can be seen as "dear" but they are not synonims
since one cannot say "this had is very dear" but one will use "this had
is very expansive". If one speaks about liking much this had, then
he/she will say maybe (am not sure too much about English way here for
the usage of the word) " this had is very dear to me". It sounds better
"I like this had much":-))
OK, now to the derivatives:
-drag, dragã (m/f/)= adj/noun "dear", sweetheart
-drãguT= lovely, pretty, lovely, nice
-drãgãlaS=preety, lovely, sweet
-drãgãlãSenie= amability, kindliness, loveliness, charm, tender
gesture/words
-drãgãstos= lovely
-dragoste= love
-îndrãgosti= to fall in love
-indrãgostit= lover
-îndrãgi=to grow fond of
now to the question of "dragostI". I wanted to know if the word
"dragostI" means indeed "love" in Slavic as it ought for a loaned word
in that form. From all explanation one seen here, it appears just the
root "drag-" was explained trouigh Slavic (the unkrain. influence can be
seen in toponyms as "Dorohoi" in Rom. which has no meaning in Rom.)
The toponyms with "drag-" like "DrãgãneSti, Drãgãneasca" appears to be
wide-spread on the whole Rom. theritory, the Dorohoy, just at the border
with Ukraina, thus it appears just the South Slavic form is the one who
hve had influence here on the Rom. Lang, if the word is ultimately
Slavic and not a loan into OCS and from here it has spread in all
Slavic Languages.
Alex